Moving on
by dreamsofyesterday1
Summary: Part twelve of the Robyn series. Robyn comes to terms with Cain's death and fights the guilt she feels about her involvement in it. Happy times follow as she moves on with the help of her friends. Rated K but may change later
1. Saying goodbye

Moving on

Disclaimer: I don't own Lazytown or any of the characters in it. Ché, Kit, Robyn, Greta, Cain Doctor Cole and Doctor Palley are my own characters.

Part twelve of the Robyn series

A lone mourner stood in the cemetery and listened to the service the chaplain was reading. Their sky blue eyes were fixed upon the coffin as it was lowered into the grave and guilt filled them. They'd been the cause of the person's death. They'd driven them to it with their words of truth. Words that had cut the listener like a dozen razorblades. So cut and bled by the words the listener took their own life. An action that did much more damage to the speaker than killing them would have.

With the coffin safely in the grave the coffin bearers departed leaving the chaplain and the mourner alone. Silently the mourner held out an envelope for the chaplain to take.

The chaplain shook his head and lowered the girl's hand. "No Miss. Keep your money. There's no charge for my work. I believe there's nothing worse than being buried with no one by your side. The poor beggar was lucky he had you here at least."

Nodding the girl returned her eyes to the coffin as the chaplain departed as well. She was left alone in the cemetery save for the grave diggers waiting to bury the coffin. Without a word the girl turned around and began to walk away also. There was nothing more she could do there and her goodbyes had been said.

Silence reigned in the house. A silence left long unbroken. Sportacus, Kit and Robbie sat surrounded by the silence lost in their own thoughts. They were concerned for Robyn more than for themselves. She hadn't spoken a word since Cain's death nearly a week ago and appeared to be a shadow of her former self. The vivacity and strength of her spirit seemed to be completely extinguished. It was uncertain whether her spirit would ever flare back into the fire that it had once been from the drowned spark it was now.

"I tell you," Kit began breaking the silence, "Robyn's heart works in mysterious ways. A guy attacks her, attacks her family, threatens her, burns down her garden, kills himself in front of her and yet she goes to his funeral. Is there anything she can't forgive?"

Robbie cleared his throat a little, "I doubt it. It's strange I agree but she sees things in people no one else can. In a way she's a testament to us all. Where reason beats us down Robyn embraces it. No matter what Cain did to her we have to remember that he was her brother. A brother she never knew she had."

"It reminds me of the time you told me to go to Lily's funeral. You told me that if I didn't go and say goodbye and tried to ignore what was going on I'd regret it for the rest of my life. That's why you let Robyn go isn't it?" Sportacus asked.

"Yes. I have a sneaky suspicion that Robyn blames herself for Cain's death, that somehow she made him do it. Until she talks to us we won't know what happened."

Sportacus was about to comment about what Robbie had said when the front door opened and admitted Robyn. Rather than going straight up to her room and to bed as she was wont to do these days Robyn went and sat next to Kit resting her head on his shoulder. Kit put one of his arms around Robyn's shoulders and rested his head on hers glad of the change in Robyn's usual actions. It was a sure sign that the barriers she had erected were beginning to come down.

Instead of the silence in the room resuming Kit prevented it by singing a little ditty that he'd made up himself. It was in the tune of 'old McDonald had a farm,' but the words had been changed to 'old Mayor Meanswell has a town'. Instead of the song containing animals it contained the names of everyone in town.

As the song went on Robyn smiled her first smile in days. It was really quite funny and not even her damaged spirit could withstand the humour. With that small smile Robyn was taking her first few steps back into the light. Once again Kit had pulled her from the darkness with the smallest of actions.

Robyn's smile didn't go unnoticed and it eased the spirits of those that cared for her the most. There was tranquillity in that smile, an indicator that the winds of change were to blow and restore the equilibrium of life where they were felt. There was still a long way to go but Robyn's smile instilled confidence in her guardians that they could help her. As wounded as it was her spirit was still there and her eyes shone with a determination to put the past to rest and start afresh.

Once Kit had finished his song he was given a round of applause and Robbie called for an encore. Kit shook his head making an excuse that it would have to wait until he got himself something to eat. His stomach rumbled backing up his story. Kissing Robyn fondly on her temple he detangled himself from her and entered the kitchen. No one noticed as he slipped out the back door.

Trixie, Stingy, Ziggy, the Mayor, Bessie, Stephanie, Doctor Cole, Doctor Palley, Ché, Greta and surprisingly Pixel were waiting for Kit when he arrived at the garden. They were all in old clothes and were ready for their instructions.

"Thanks for coming guys. One thing though," Kit turned to Pixel, "I thought you were fixing your lab."

Pixel shook his head, "to hell with the lab. This is more important."

Everyone looked at Pixel with sheer disbelief. He'd just said that something was more important than his lab and computers. Since converting Robbie's old lair into a brand new techno dungeon Pixel had rarely spoken of anything else. The only thing that had extracted him from playing with his new toy was the explosion almost a month ago. Stephanie was also another reason.

Kit ran up to Pixel and placed a hand on his forehead, "Doc. You might want to call an ambulance. This man is very very sick. He needs to go the hospital. He's delirious."

The group laughed at Kit's melodramatic statement and Doctor Cole played along. He sauntered over to Pixel and checked his pulse. Satisfying himself that Pixel's pulse was normal he checked his temperature. This was also normal and Doctor Cole shrugged almost completely at a loss.

"I could use your assistance Doctor Palley. As far as my expertise goes I'm at a loss with this patient." Doctor Cole said turning to his associate

Doctor Palley smiled wryly, "perhaps that cardinal's hat it upsetting your judgement, Cardinal Bouchet."

Moments of levity were becoming much more common with Doctor Palley. Instead of him being his previously poorly natured self he'd changed to be more kind hearted. No one knew what had incited this change but it was a welcome one. As for Robbie's secret he'd promised to keep it for the same reasons Doctor Cole had agreed. The Crazytown safe house was the last place he wanted to end up.

Doctor Cole chuckled sarcastically and stepped aside giving Doctor Palley room to also examine Pixel.

"I believe that the only thing wrong with this young man is a great eagerness to get started doing some work. Something I think everyone else is suffering with. The treatment I'd suggest is work. Let's get to it then." Doctor Palley concluded.

With the game up Kit instructed everyone with what he wanted them to do. Ché and Greta would do the heavy work while Stephanie would take it as easy as possible with Bessie and the Mayor. Pulling out Robyn's plans for the garden that was supposed to be built at the outreach clinic Kit gave everyone an area to work.

Once everyone had been told what they were to do they went straight to work. There was no doubt that when Robyn was better she'd help them. So far their laying the foundations for Robyn's new garden was a secret which would soon be revealed.


	2. Diversions

Kit crept back into the house an hour later. Robbie and Sportacus had managed quite successfully to keep Robyn occupied so his absence wasn't noticed. When he walked into the living room he wasn't noticed as everyone's attention was absorbed in building a house of cards. Robbie and Sportacus were arguing over how tall the house should be whilst Robyn just watched with amusement. Creeping over to the sofa so as not to disturb the argument Kit sat next to Robyn and hugged her. Robyn responded to the hug but still didn't speak. Kit hoped it was because she was quite content letting the two men continue arguing.

Fifteen minutes had passed before the argument ended with both sides of it retreating to separate corners of the living room sulking like children. Robyn and Kit found this scene quite amusing especially because both were supposed to be grown men. An agitated silence had fallen between Robbie and Sportacus and it seemed that Kit and Robyn were quite content to let it stay like that. There was no use trying to reason with the 'adults' when they were in moods like this and it would eventually sort itself out.

Not being one to pass up an excuse to make trouble or just have fun at other people's expense Kit came up with an idea. "Mary had a little lamb. It was full of fun and frolics and every time the lamb played up she kicked it in the-"

"Don't you dare." Robbie interrupted with a threatening undertone in his voice, "not with Robyn here. I won't have her hearing that kind of language."

Kit smiled cheekily, "I wasn't going to say _that_ word. I was going to say ear but you ruined my joke."

Robbie's reply was merely a shrug and the silence fell again. Sportacus was smiling as he'd gotten the joke and thought the rhyme was rather funny. It was intended to be rude but it was funny. Ché's sense of humour stretched to jokes and limericks like that and Sportacus filed the rhyme away in his memory. When he got round to telling Ché the limerick he knew he'd have to be careful that Greta didn't overhear, her response to hearing bad language was one expected of a mother.

Bored with sitting down and wanting to see how the garden was going Sportacus got up and left the house. He also wanted to discuss with everyone what should be done for Robyn's upcoming birthday. As her birthday was likely to be painfully uncomfortable unless her spirits raised themselves Sportacus thought it best to perhaps defer celebrations until things were better. A little birdie had also told Sportacus that Kit's birthday was coming up not long after Robyn's. No one had celebrated Kit's twenty second birthday as he'd not told anyone when it was. There would be a celebration this year however. Kit wouldn't get away with the same trick twice.

When Sportacus got to the garden everyone was taking a break from their work. A lot of the ground had been cleared and cleaned up while extra flower beds had been dug over all of the burnt patches of ground. What they were doing where the bare bones of a brand new garden for Robyn. It was in the same place as the old garden but covered much more ground and it would be up to Robyn how to plant it. The general idea was that it would be a giant birthday present for Robyn from the whole town.

Ziggy shielded his eyes against the sun when he looked up at Sportacus. "How's Robyn?" He asked. A question that had been asked quite a lot of late.

"Not much better. She's still not talking. Kit sang a little song which got her smiling but not much more than that. At least she's spending time downstairs now rather than upstairs in bed locked in her room. Hopefully with a little more time things will right themselves again." Sportacus explained.

Doctor Palley nodded, "time is the only thing that can help her. Even though it's a small improvement her smiling and spending time with other people is a good sign. She's heading in the right direction. Her going to the funeral gave her a chance to say goodbye and was a source of closure. Things should improve from here on in."

Sportacus smiled and looked around the garden again. He really hoped that Robyn would like it. Granted its locality may have been seen as distasteful for some but the sentimental value of it outweighed the horror of what had happened there. The garden had been dearly loved by everyone and was sorely missed.

"It's a shame that the clinic's plans to build a garden didn't work out. I wish they'd have had the brains to make sure they owned the land before building Robyn's hopes up. She'll still have her garden though; it'll just be in a different place. A lot closer to home which is a nice thing." Doctor Cole thought aloud.

Everyone nodded their agreement. All of them hoped that the garden would look as good in reality as it did on paper. The designs Robyn had drawn up were really quite extraordinary and showed an artistic streak that they'd not known existed in her. With the garden being built and grown in town everyone would be able to see it. The whole thing would be almost three times the size of Robyn's first garden and it was worth the land it would take up. Most of the land hadn't been built on and there was no chance that it would ever be built upon. This was Robyn's land; the Mayor had put the necessary papers through to transfer ownership to her.

"How are we going to keep Robyn occupied when the professionals come tomorrow? There'll be a lot of noise when they dig the pond and Robyn's sure to know what's going on." Stephanie said readjusting her position.

Sportacus thought for a while. He'd not come up with any plans yet nor had he even thought of it. "You'll have to ask Kit. He's coordinating the diversion effort."

"I really hope he's come up with a good idea." Greta stated, "How did the house of cards go?"

"Very well. She doesn't suspect a thing. I don't know if Robbie took our argument too seriously but it definitely worked." Sportacus replied.

"I never thought fooling a psychic would be so easy. I can't help but have doubts though." Ché joined.

Bessie nodded, "Me too. She has to suspect something. No matter how careful we're being or have been there's bound to come a time when she senses something. There's no telling how far Robyn's abilities stretch."

"It's something I'd like to look into. It would make for interesting study." Doctor Palley pondered.

"She's not a lab rat." Ziggy answered rather heatedly.

Doctor Cole agreed, "You know that anyway, James. I'm sure you'd attain Robyn's consent before trying anything and to reassure her friends would treat her like a person not an experiment."

"Of course I would, Gerald. It would also be up to you as Robyn is your patient." Doctor Palley replied looking at Doctor Cole.

Doctor Cole nodded, "Absolutely. Why is it that we've both spent nearly forty-five years in the profession and we've never been able to settle on one type of medicine? I've done everything from gynaecology to pathology and you've done more or less the same. Out of everything I've done Neurosurgery has to be the most interesting."

"I don't know, Gerald. Looking at people's brains isn't my cup of tea. I'm quite happy being in the emergency department. A different case with every patient. You never know what's going to come through that door."

Everyone listened to the doctor's debate with interest. Both men were very highly qualified doctors and had a great deal of experience. Despite their order of working in different areas being different they had shared more or less the same experiences and both had their own stories to tell.

After a further twenty minutes conversation everyone returned home to have some lunch. Their break had been much longer than they'd planned and knew they'd have to pick up the slack somewhere.


	3. Starting to heal

Robyn stood in her garden warmed by the bright sun. The garden looked just as it had done before the fire. It looked as if nothing had ever happened, as if the fire had never happened. Everything seemed strange somehow like everything was close but far away at the same time. When she reached out to touch a plant it trembled and disintegrated into ashes under her fingers.

"This isn't real. Nothing here is." A familiar yet altered voice said from behind her.

Turning round Robyn came face to face with the speaker, "Cain? What are you doing here? What is this place?"

"I'm waiting judgement for all of my actions in life. All of the bad things I did as well as any good things. Until the judges reach a decision I'm to be kept here."

"Judges?"

Cain nodded, "every action we take in life, every decision we make is recorded. When we die we are judged on those actions and the judges decide whether we are granted eternal peace, eternal unrest or eternal torture. My crimes were numerous and I'm to be condemned to torture. Before the judges finalise their decision I wanted to talk to you so I brought you here."

"What would we have to talk about?"

"I wanted to say thank you. You showed me the real person inside myself and lifted the veil from my eyes. With your help I found the good inside me and I don't want you to blame yourself for what I did. You didn't kill me, you helped me."

Tears sprung to Robyn's eyes, "you're sure? I thought I'd driven you to it with what I said."

"In a way you did but I had to be punished and I inflicted it on myself. I don't blame you for what happened I thank you." As if hearing something beyond the hearing capacity of Robyn Cain turned away. "They're calling me. The decision has been made. Before I go I wanted to warn you that there is danger ahead, great danger. A threat bigger than myself is coming. Be careful and stay alive. You must stay alive."

"What danger? Why must I stay alive?"

Before Cain could answer Robyn's questions he vanished.

Robyn woke up sharply in bed. She didn't remember going upstairs or lying down in bed. Whether or not her conversation with Cain had been a dream her heart beat a lot easier and the guilt had gone. Feeling something on her fingers Robyn looked at them and gasped when she saw residual trashes of ash on them. Whatever had happened before she woke up had been much more than any dream. Much more than any trance where she could see, hear, feel and hear the thoughts of people long gone. It was also much more than what had happened when she lifted Robbie's memories from his mind after touching his back. It disconcerted her. Her ability was growing, changing into something more than being able to see past things and present happenings.

Kit walked into the bedroom to check on Robyn. He saw her sitting up in bed staring at her hand. "Princess?" he called softly to see if he could get her attention.

Robyn turned around at the mention of her name and smiled at Kit. "How did I get up here?"

"You fell asleep on the couch again. Whenever you do that it makes your dad tired and he has a nap so everyone has to stay quiet. Sportacus reckoned you were better off up here than on the couch. It's nice to have you talking again."

"I'm sorry about before. I've not been very approachable recently."

Kit shook his head, "its fine. We all understand. Seeing Cain doing himself in really shook you up and you went into shock. All the garden stuff didn't help either."

Smiling Robyn got out of bed and hugged Kit. Kit hugged back pulling away a little kissed Robyn tenderly on the lips.

"I love you," Kit whispered when the kiss was over. "Something that I don't say nearly enough."

"You don't have to." At Kit's puzzled look Robyn continued, "every time you wink at me, smile at me, make me smile and laugh tells me you love me. Every kiss, look and hug does the same. Your actions speak much louder than words."

Warmed by Robyn's words and her better spirits Kit kissed her again. It was a thoroughly delicious kiss which left Robyn in doubt as to Kit's feelings for her. He'd saved that kiss up for nearly a year and he thought it high time to give it to her. Robyn's words had conveyed to him just how much she loved him as well and if he'd not asked her to marry him already he would have done so right then.

The romantic mood in the room vanished when Kit's stomach gurgled demanding food.

"My stomach loves you too." He joked.

Chuckling Robyn patted Kit's stomach and then bent down a little bit to blow on his belly button making a noise. Kit laughed and playfully pushed Robyn on the bed where he did the same to her. It seemed that they'd been overheard laughing and making the raspberry noises as Sportacus and Robbie both entered the room with bemused expressions on their faces. Seeing what the two were up to Robbie decided it might be fun to join in, it had been a long time since he'd played the game with Robyn.

Instead of taking on Robyn Robbie took on Kit and soon laughter filled the house, it had been over a week since anyone had really laughed. With her partner having been stolen by her father Robyn tried to blow on Sportacus' belly but he had other plans. The two rough housed a little each trying to protect their own stomachs while blowing on the other person's. Seeing that Robyn was having trouble Kit called a truce with Robbie and it was everyone against Sportacus.

The belly battle continued for some ten minutes until everyone called a truce because they were too hungry to continue. After rearranging clothes and tidying up the mess they'd made everyone went downstairs to find something to eat.

Robbie looked in the fridge trying to find something he fancied cooking but he couldn't see anything. Turning to the others he said, "I'm feeling lazy. Why don't we just telephone for pizza?"

"Yeah. We can have on of those four topping things, each of us can choose a topping then and have one big pizza rather than four little ones. It's quicker than cooking. There's also no washing up involved."

Rifling through the phone book Robyn found the number and handed it to Kit. "You're turn to call it in."

Kit pulled a face and wrote down everyone's toppings.

"Right. Robyn's having sweet corn, ham and mushroom. Robbie's having anchovies, yuck. Sportacus is having ham and pineapple, yuck again. And I'm having pepperoni and mixed peppers. Everyone go in the living room and make yourselves comfortable while I call it in." Kit said picking up the phone and dialling the number.

Five minutes later the door bell rang and Robbie went to answer it. He paid the pizza boy and tipped him for being quick with the food before putting the box on the coffee table and opening it. Everyone took their share of pizza with their toppings on and ate in companionable silence.

Taking a bite out his last slice of pizza Kit pulled a face and went into the kitchen to spit it out in the bin. "There was an anchovy in that one with a piece of pineapple," he explained once he'd washed his mouth out.

Sportacus chuckled, "you should always look before you eat."

"I'll remember that when I slip a bit of candy in your cereal." Kit replied threateningly coming back in from the kitchen.

Robbie and Robyn laughed. They both enjoyed Kit's and Sportacus' little arguments. Both men were as bad each other when it came to provoking the other.

"It's good to know you're feeling better Robyn. It really is." Robbie said when he'd stopped laughing.

Robyn smiled and went over to hug her father. She was feeling better. Much better.


	4. Another vision

Kit woke up in the middle of the night aware that he was alone in bed. Thinking it extremely strange and wondering where his bedfellow had gone he got up and went looking for her. Robyn very rarely got up in the night and due to her current course of medication would sleep very deeply.

Checking the bathroom Kit didn't find Robyn there and so he moved silently downstairs. Again there was no sign of her and he left the house thinking she may have gone outside for some reason. The reason eluded him, sunrise wasn't for another two hours at least and there we no stars out. Robyn on occasion when she did get up in the night would look at the stars or watch the sun rise. Two hobbies that had formed after she'd regained her sight.

Scanning the darkness with his eyes Kit saw something moving and headed over to it. He knew he was heading towards the garden and guessed that the figure was Robyn. If it was her the surprise had been blown, in a way this was best as the builders were coming in the morning to build the pond and he'd not thought of a way to keep Robyn occupied.

Within a few minutes walking at a quick pace Kit made it to the garden and could distinguish Robyn sitting down in the centre. He went over to her and didn't know whether to disturb her from her obvious reverie or sit beside her and wait.

"I thought he'd come to me. There's nothing here." Robyn spoke softly in an almost hypnotised tone.

Kit frowned a little, "do you really think that's a good idea? I take it he's spoken to you before?"

"Yes. It was different from when I spoke to daddy or Detective Miller. I was here in the garden yet not here."

"I don't follow."

Robyn looked up at Kit, "When you thought I was sleeping I was in a trance of some kind. He brought me into it. He told me he needed to speak to me, to tell me something."

"It wasn't anything bad was it? He wasn't messing with your head like Lily did was he?"

"No. All of the harshness had gone from his voice. It was different, altered. He looked different too, almost like he was at rest. His character had changed as well, he seemed almost sane."

Kit raised both eyebrows, "Creepy Cain sane? I suppose anything can happen. What did he say?"

"He said that he didn't blame me for his death when I blamed myself. I said some things to him before he let me go and he repeated those things before doing what he did. He tried to warn me about something, danger that's coming some time. He seemed adamant that I stay alive when this danger hits. I wanted him to come to me so that he might explain further. He couldn't finish telling me because he had to go back." Robyn explained.

Kit nodded taking in everything that Robyn had said. He knew it was foolish to discredit anything she said because she was always right about these things. As confused as he was about all this he thought it best to discuss with the others in the morning. If something was coming they'd need to know.

Robyn made to stand up but something stopped her.

She felt a sharp pain run across her throat and hot blood spill out. Her throat seized up and she couldn't breathe. She was choking.

Kit swore when he realised what was happening. It was the same thing that had happened when Robyn had seen and felt what had happened to Robbie when Lily stabbed him. Not knowing what else to do Kit dropped himself onto the ground and tired to help Robyn. She was extremely distressed and fighting for air.

Pixel and Stephanie were woken up by an alarm going off on Pixel's computer. It was the same alarm that he'd set up to alert him of high psychic energy levels in the area. Jumping out of bed Pixel ran to his computer and got the cameras to fix a position on the source of the energy. He gasped when he saw Kit giving Robyn the kiss of life, there was evidently something going very wrong. Telling his fiancée to stay where she was he ran out of the house.

"She's not breathing. She was fine then she started choking. I think she picked up what happened to Cain, we have to do something." Kit said when he noticed Pixel kneeling beside him.

Pixel thought quickly, "perhaps if we move her away from the psychic energy she'll be ok? It's the only thing I can think of."

Kit nodded. It was the only option. Giving Robyn two more breaths he scooped her up in his arms and ran out of the garden. Pixel's theory was right. The moment Kit had left the place where Robyn was sitting she started breathing again and the further away he got the more she came back to herself.

Robyn sat up and rubbed her throat and head. Her throat felt a little sore and her head was throbbing. Looking up she noticed Kit and Pixel looking at her with relief in their eyes. She remembered everything that had happened and was left with no more answers than before about what Cain meant.

Fumbling in his pocket Pixel pulled out his quantum 6000 and scanned Robyn with it. He'd picked it up on the way out in case he needed it. Thankfully Robyn was fine and both men helped her up. The three walked back to their houses at a leisurely pace in silence. It was still extremely late and they could talk about what had happened in the morning.

When they got home Kit told Robyn to go inside and promised her he'd catch her up after he'd spoken to Pixel. Robyn did as she was told and left the two men alone.

"She's going to be ok to go back in the garden isn't she?" Kit asked.

Pixel nodded, "she only seems to pick these 'traces' up once so I can't see any problem. We should think ourselves lucky it happened sooner rather than later, at least it's out of the way now."

"I hope you're right. Thanks for your help, mate. Sorry to get you out of bed."

"Blame the dead." Pixel laughed. "You're welcome by the way. Goodnight."

"Night."

Kit and Pixel entered their houses. Pixel returned to bed with Stephanie and Kit returned to bed with Robyn. Luckily everyone slept well for the rest of the night and woke up bright and breezy the next morning.

Extraordinarily Robbie got up early that morning. Something he'd not done since feeding Robyn when she was a baby. He was due over at the Mayor's house to make some last minute arrangements for Robyn's birthday. He'd called the Mayor after Robyn had gone to bed and told him that there'd been a breakthrough with her. Delighted with the news the Mayor had invited Robbie over for breakfast so they could make plans.

Bessie was rather caught off guard when Robbie turned up at the house on time. She'd expected him to be late at least. Showing Robbie into the kitchen Bessie went to get a pen and paper so they could right down everything they'd come up with. Kit's birthday was also on the list of things to discuss.

After an hour and a half all of the plans for the two birthdays were laid out. Both birthdays were to be celebrated on the same day as there was only two days between the birthdays anyway. Robbie got to work circulating the plans while Bessie and the Mayor got to putting them in action.


	5. Coffee

The big day dawned. It had been two days since Robbie's meeting with the Mayor and everything was all set and ready. There was an air of excitement in the town as it was expected to be the best birthday yet. Everyone hoped that things would go to plan and the two birthday people would enjoy their gifts. Both were difficult to buy for but everyone had managed to get them some gifts nonetheless.

Robbie let himself into Robyn and Kit's room and woke the two up by shaking them. Both resisted his attempts and refused to get up so he tried plan B. Going into the bathroom he filled two cups with cold water and walked back into the bedroom. He gave the two one last chance to get up themselves and when they refused. Smiling wickedly Robbie threw the water from both the cups onto the occupants of the bed.

Robyn screamed at the shock of the cold water hitting her while Kit fell out of bed in similar shock. Once they'd recovered a little they both looked at Robbie with questioning expressions.

"I did warn you." Robbie chuckled. "You have five minutes to get dressed and be downstairs for breakfast."

Robbie then walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Before he went downstairs he put the cups back where they belonged. Neither Kit nor Robyn would be happy when they found out what the time was. They had to be got up early as it was a big day and there was a surprise waiting for both of them at the end of it.

Kit and Robyn traipsed into the kitchen a little after the five minutes had elapsed. Both were looking rather tired still and Robbie debated whether another dash of cold water would wake them up a bit.

Looking at the clock Kit almost fell off of his chair in shock, "seven in the morning! Are you crazy? How did you get up this early?"

Sportacus entered the kitchen through the back door, "he had a little help from me. How are you guys feeling this morning?"

"Bloody tired." Kit replied yawning. Turning to Robyn who was resting her head on the table he said, "Coffee princess?"

Robyn's reply was a muffled yes. Kit got up and turned on the kettle before getting two cups out of the cupboard and putting a spoonful of coffee in each. While the kettle was boiling he put the sugar bowl on the table and got some milk out of the fridge. Once the kettle had done boiling Kit poured water into both cups and set them down on the table. Robyn sat up at the smell of her hot drink and helped herself to sugar.

Unlike Sportacus, Robyn had a tolerance for sugar. As long as she was careful she could avoid a meltdown and had only ever had three. She'd had her first while eating sweets with Ziggy and the second a few years after. Both times were in her early childhood and after a third meltdown she knew her sugar limit.

Not having any restriction when it came to sugar Kit shovelled it into his coffee when Robyn had taken her share. Sportacus almost fainted when he counted a total of twelve spoonfuls of sugar going into Kit's coffee. He didn't have any idea how the younger man could drink it like that and would love to watch. He was well aware that Robyn could have extreme reactions to caffeine and that he'd probably have to scrape her off of the ceiling. Kit would also have to be scraped off of the ceiling as well when the sugar kicked in.

As if reading Sportacus' thoughts Robbie nudged him in the arm and whispered, "I'll get the chisel."

Sportacus chuckled quietly, "the jiff lemon juice you use to get pancakes off of the ceiling might be useful too."

Laughing Robbie left the room. Going upstairs to his room he dialled the Mayor's number on the phone beside his bed. Bessie answered it and Robbie told her to expect them about eleven thirty. He warned her about both of the lovers' sugar intake and said that it would be advisable if the Mayor put less sugar into the cake than usual. Bessie agreed and after finalising everything with Robbie hung up.

The Mayor looked up from his cereal when Bessie finished talking on the phone. "I take it that was Robbie?"

"Yes it was him. I'm to tell you to watch how much sugar you put in the cake. Kit and Robyn are drinking coffee and Kit's shovelled twelve spoonfuls of sugar into his."

The Mayor spat out his cereal in shock, "twelve! It should be rather interesting to see what he's like after that. He's bad enough as it is without sugar. Do you think it would be a good idea for me to get the first aid kit out?"

"I thought the two doctors were coming."

"They can't. They're both working but Doctor Cole dropped his presents for Kit and Robyn off yesterday morning on his way to a call out. Doctor Palley said he'd drop in a little something tomorrow."

Bessie smiled, "at least they're making an effort. I suppose it's best that they can't come today, we'd never fit them in with Ché and Greta."

"I was thinking of making a last minute change to the plans. It's going to be a very nice day today and I was thinking of us eating outside. I know the town hall is still looking a mess and the garden still looks a little untidy but at least Ché and Greta won't have to squeeze through the front door."

"That's an excellent idea Milford. It even gives us an excuse to use paper plates rather than the china ones. I'll let everyone know."

The Mayor nodded glad at being praised. Finishing his breakfast he got to work with Bessie preparing the food for the dinner party. When all the stuff that needed to be cooked was in the oven waiting for it to be turned on Bessie made calls to everyone to tell them they were eating outside. Once all of the phone calls had been done she went outside to see if she could catch sight of either Ché or Greta to tell them too.

Ché was attempting to resolve an argument with Greta. The two were standing underneath their airship and were so caught up in their argument they didn't notice Bessie's approach or salutation. Bessie couldn't understand what either Ché or Greta were saying as Ché was speaking in his native tongue and Greta was speaking in hers. It was beyond her how they could understand each other when they were both speaking different languages.

"Greta, nosotros tenga un público." Ché said indicating Bessie.

"I don't care if we have an audience for the moment." Greta replied now speaking in English. "You'll do well to give up speaking your Spanish and this argument. I'm not saying yes Ché and that's it.

All Ché did to answer Greta was grumble something in Spanish and walk off. He hated losing arguments to his wife and wished that just once he'd win one.

Rolling her eyes Greta looked down at Bessie and shrugged. "He's always like this first thing in the morning. I'm sorry for our argument."

"It's not a problem. Could I ask what you were arguing about?"

"Of course. He wants to swap beds with me. Since we've had so many children we've refrained from sleeping in the same bed and he's unhappy with his. I'm used to mine and I'm not about to give it up. Unfortunately Ché is extremely bad at taking no for an answer."

"I suppose that's the reason why you have sixteen children." A voice laughed from behind Greta.

Greta turned around and saw Kit. She was about to land a slap on his cheek for his impudence but the rogue got away before she could even raise her hand.

Bessie was struggling to maintain her composure when Greta turned back to face her. Clearing her throat Bessie spoke rather evenly for someone holding back laughter, "I wanted to let you know that we're holding Kit's and Robyn's dinner party outside rather than inside. It's due to be a nice day today and it makes life easier for you and Ché."

"Thank you Bessie. I'll let my big lump of a husband know when I see him next."

"You're welcome." Bessie replied before making her way back to her house.

The minute she closed the front door Bessie burst out laughing drawing a puzzled look from the Mayor. As cheeky as Kit's comment had been it was still very funny.


	6. Preoccupying the birthday people

Sportacus was in the process of trying to locate Kit when his crystal beeped. It didn't take him long to find the source of the trouble. Ché was sitting on the sports field with his arms folded and scowling. When Sportacus got closer to his friend he realised that the sports field wasn't the only thing Ché was sitting on, Kit was lodged underneath him.

Despite his precarious and uncomfortable position Kit was in the middle of a giggle fit. The sugar mixed with the caffeine had well and truly kicked in leaving him with no sense of danger whatsoever. He'd repeated his joke about Ché being very bad at taking no for an answer to the very person the joke was about. Instead of finding the wise crack funny Ché had found it offensive. Ordinarily this wouldn't have been the case but he was still sulking about his argument with Greta and Kit had pushed him.

Ziggy came bounding up to the sports field, he'd seen Ché sulking and wanted to know what was going on. It was only when he saw that Ché was sitting on Kit as well that he guessed what had happened.

Thinking it best to diffuse the situation before the dinner party or rather lunch party kicked off Sportacus stepped forward, "Ché, don't you think it would be a good idea to get off of Kit?"

"Only if he apologises for what he said."

"What could he have possibly said to make you sit on him?" Ziggy asked.

Ché turned to Ziggy, "he said that the reason I have fathered sixteen children is because I can't take no for an answer." Thinking about what he'd just said Ché started to chuckle, "actually, that is rather funny. I like that."

Without further request Ché got up off of Kit and picked his temporary seat up and brushed him down. Kit had stopped giggling and was looking rather puzzled about what had just happened. Ché explained that he'd cheered up a lot and had found the joke funny. Ché also apologised for sitting on Kit and Kit apologised for telling the joke in the first place, he also added that Greta didn't like the joke either.

Pulling Ché and Ziggy aside Sportacus asked them to try and keep Kit and Robyn as occupied as possible as things were being set up for the party. There was only an hour to go before everything started so they didn't have to keep the two out of trouble long. Ché offered to keep Kit busy while Ziggy volunteered to take Robyn off somewhere.

Ziggy found Robyn hanging around near his house. He hugged her after greeting her and asked if she wanted to come inside. Robyn nodded and he opened the front door letting her in before following behind her.

"You've redecorated," Robyn stated looking around.

"Only one wall so far. I borrowed the paint from Kit; he had some left over from when you redecorated your house."

Robyn frowned a little, "you borrowed the paint weeks ago. How has it taken you this long to paint one wall?"

Little did Ziggy know but Robyn was well aware of the project to build her a new garden. She'd been there two nights ago and had promised Kit that she'd look surprised when she saw it. Only Pixel, Robyn and Kit knew what had happened when Robyn had picked up on what Cain felt when he died and had sworn each other to secrecy.

Ziggy blushed a little, "I've been held up with counting my candy collection. You know how long it takes me to do; I keep eating it so I have to start counting all over again."

"Do you need any help?"

Robyn had just offered Ziggy a way to keep her occupied and he seized upon it. He went over to a corner of the room and dragged a large black sack over to Robyn. Both heaved it up and poured all the contents out. There was a lot of candy inside.

Kit walked with Ché towards the lake. Both were going to have a little go at fishing without rods and tackle. It was Ché's favourite way to fish; it improved hand eye coordination and was also a lot of fun. He also loved the feel of a fish's scales underneath his fingers.

When they arrived at the lake both Ché and Kit took off their trousers, shoes, socks, shirts and anything else they were wearing aside from their swimming trunks. They'd changed quickly before heading out and had brought along their underwear and some towels so they could dry off and be fully dressed when they headed back to town.

Once they were ready both men waded into the lake. Kit stopped when the water was just above his waistline and scanned the water with his eyes. A glint of silver came close to him and he dove for it, the fish slipped out of his hands when he tried to pull it from the water. He heard Ché laughing at him but smiled triumphantly when he managed to grab and lift up a fish.

Ché applauded Kit's effort and concentrated on catching himself a fish. Unfortunately after half and hour he had no luck and reluctantly left the water with Kit so they could get dried and dressed before heading back to town.

The setting up for the party was almost done. A total of six picnic tables had been placed side by side to make one long table. Every single place had been set with plates, napkins and cutlery for the thirteen people that were attending. Along the table there were bowls of salad, dips and various condiments for whatever people chose to eat. Another long table had been set up near the picnic tables which had various plates full of bite sized nibbles that everyone could help themselves from. Last year's buffet idea had been a great success and the Mayor had opted to repeat it for this year's as well.

A banner which read, 'happy birthday Kit and Robyn' had been tied between two trees near to the tables. Balloons were scattered around some saying 19 and others saying 23 for the respective ages of the birthday boy and girl. Inflating the balloons had been done with a great deal of trial and error. Trixie had never used a helium pump before and until she got the hang of it the balloons she was trying to inflate kept popping. Out of the sixty balloons that had been purchased only twenty five had been successfully inflated.

For after dinner entertainment Ché had hired a bull simulator for everyone to use. Pixel had set to work setting it up when it arrived and was really looking forward to taking a turn on it. From what Ché had told him bull simulators were a lot of fun and had he had also promised to show everyone what to do.

An inflatable flat bedded bouncy castle type invention had also been hired which had bungee cords attached to walls at each end. The idea of the game was that one person would be strapped to each cord and had to run to centre as fast and far as they could before getting snapped back by the bungee cords. It was a little competitive thing that could be enjoyed by those who wanted to use it.

As a small surprise for Robbie and the two birthday people a television and DVD player had been set up in a shady spot and was going to be played after the presents were all opened. The DVD had lots of home movies on of Robyn and some more recent ones that had been shot on the quiet side.

The Mayor had also purchased some fireworks to add a little bit of difference to the party. He was always up for exploring new ideas when it came to birthday celebrations and as the kids weren't kids anymore he had to think of other things.

Trixie set up her decks and was going to be the DJ for the party when everything else had been done and people wanted to dance. She chose music that everyone liked and had brought along all of her records so she could take requests. As a precaution she'd brought some old music and the sort of music Kit was likely to ask for. These included some rather bizarre songs and songs which everyone loved to hate.

With everything set up and the birthday people on their way everyone prepared themselves for a fun afternoon, evening and a long night.


	7. The gifts

Ché and Kit met up with Robyn and Ziggy before they reached the sports field. With the two birthday people together Ziggy put his hands over Robyn's eyes while Ché covered Kit's. They led their respective person to the sports field and when they got there uncovered their eyes.

With their eyes uncovered Kit and Robyn looked around in awe at the decorations, the table and everything that had been set up. They'd not suspected anything at all and knew why they'd been taken off by Ché and Ziggy. Kit himself was very deeply moved, he'd never had such an effort made for him before and he was touched. He'd have to make sure that when the birthday speeches came along he'd show how grateful he was.

Whatever silence there was outside was broken by Ché's stomach rumbling loudly. Making the best of a funny situation as always Kit pretended that it was an earthquake and hid under the table making everyone laugh.

Stifling her laughter Greta broke in, "if you think his stomach rumbling is bad you should be around when he breaks wind."

"Instead of an earthquake it's a tornado right?" Kit laughed. "What does he do when there's a flash flood?"

Everyone laughed at this question. Without further jokes approaching and everyone feeling hungry they sat down and the dinner commenced. Salad bowls and condiments were passed around whenever they were asked for and short bursts of conversation occurred in between mouthfuls.

Robbie tried to squeeze some ketchup on his burger but it went everywhere and some ended up on him as well. After trying and failing to wipe it off of his waist coat with his napkin Kit handed him a handkerchief.

"Just how many handkerchiefs do you have?" Stingy asked.

Kit looked over to Stingy, "you know I'm not overly sure. I keep them all with me in my pocket, let me count them."

Taking a handkerchief out of his pocket Kit counted it and pulled out a whole string of handkerchiefs. Everyone laughed when two minutes later Kit was still pulling handkerchiefs out of his pocket. After a further minute the string of handkerchiefs came to end. Somehow Stingy was sorry he'd asked.

"I didn't know you could do magic tricks." Bessie said.

"Aside from everything else I do I'm a bit of an amateur magician. Robbie got me into it and has taught me a few tricks."

Sportacus suggested that while everyone's food went down before anyone tried any physical stuff that Robbie and Kit could put on a magic show. Kit and Robbie agreed to do one but warned that it would only contain small tricks because they didn't have most of the props required. Kit had joked that he could saw Robbie in half without a box which prompted everyone to roll their eyes.

When everyone had finished eating it was present time. Bessie and the Mayor went to fetch them from the house with help from Ziggy. The appropriate presents were shared out between Robyn and Kit. He two argued playfully over who should open their presents first. Eventually they agreed to take it in turns and Robyn was to start.

Robyn opened Ziggy's present first and amazingly it wasn't candy. It was a decorative photo frame.

Kit's first present was from Robbie and after opening the paper a little he burst out laughing and almost fell off of his seat. His reaction confused everyone and they were eager to see what was so funny. Only Robbie knew what the present was and he was glad that Kit obviously liked his present. Managing to calm down a little Kit tore off the rest of the paper and showed everyone what was so funny.

It was a pair of white boxer shorts with lots of pictures of Sportacus' head dotted around randomly. Riotous laughter broke out around the table at the sight of the boxer shorts. Kit had turned red from laughing and he was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes when he hugged Robbie.

"Oh wow!" Kit exclaimed looking at his present closer, "they've been autographed."

The laughter around the table grew. They all knew about the time that Kit had kissed Sportacus and it made the whole thing a lot funnier.

Once the laughter had died down a little and Robyn had managed to remember how to breathe she opened her next present. It was in a small bag stuffed with tissue paper and took some finding. Once she'd managed to find her present she saw it was a jewellery set. The present had been from Stephanie and Pixel.

Kit's next present was a brand new set of juggling balls and spinning plates from Ziggy.

"You're trying to give me hint aren't you?" Kit said looking at Ziggy with a mock menacing expression.

Ziggy nodded with a sheepish smile on his face.

Robyn's next present was from Trixie and it was a selection of bath salts, oils and foams. She knew that Robyn only ever used the bath and it was a good present.

Kit's third present was from Stingy and it was a small selection of earrings. Robyn's present was a new watch.

Kit's next present was from Robyn. Underneath the wrapping there was a long narrow box. Kit's face broke out into a smile when he opened the box; inside of it was a flute. Taking the flute gently from the box he looked it over and read an inscription the underneath, it read: 'music is the language of the soul. Take this and let your soul sing forever, Robyn xx'.

Kit turned to Robyn with bright eyes, "thanks. How did you know I played?"

"I found two halves of a flute in your bag. How did it break?"

"Someone sat on my bag years ago. It broke the flute in half and so it was unplayable."

Sportacus nodded. "Can you play us a tune?"

"I could try. It's been a while though. Let me get up and I'll have a little try." Kit replied.

Putting the flute on the table and trying to think of the best way to get up Kit tipped himself backwards into a backwards tumble and stood up. Everyone applauded this little trick and Kit took a bow. Picking up the flute Kit licked his lips and began to play. The interval between playing his last flute and trying out his new one hadn't affected his talent and he played his chosen song exquisitely. When he'd finished playing everyone applauded again and some people called for an encore. Kit declined the encore and promised to play again when the presents were all opened.

Kit's present from Stephanie and Pixel was a selection of male fragrances. Kit joked that they thought he smelt and he pretended to cry.

Sportacus' present to Robyn and Kit was a video camera. He advised them to use it only to film good things and nothing naughty. Everyone laughed at this while some followed their laughter with groans; they wanted to see some naughty stuff.

Doctor Cole's presents came next. He'd attached a small note to both apologising for his absence and included his wishes of a happy birthday. Robyn's present was a silver medic alert bracelet which listed her epilepsy on it, it was a nice gesture and useful if she was ever caught out somewhere outside of town. Kit's present was a pocket watch which he was very happy with too. His old pocket watch had broken when Ché had tossed him in the lake once.

The Mayor and Bessie had both chipped in together with Kit's and Robyn's present. They'd booked a week's holiday for the two to the famous Greentown Gardens resort which rested on the far side of Greentown and was a very luxurious place. Robyn had always wanted to go as the resort housed some of the best gardens in all of Greentown and was also a romantic hotspot.

Ché's and Greta's present came next. They had a villa nestled in the countryside of Andalucia in Spain and were going to let Robyn and Kit stay there for a while whenever they wanted to go.

"I'm pleased the offer and it's a nice present but how do you propose we get to Spain?" Kit asked.

Ché chuckled. "You'll let us know when you want to use the villa and you'll be picked up by Air Ché of course. My lovely air hostess Greta will cater for your every desire in flight and you'll have your own bed all to yourselves."

"I thought you only had two beds anyway. Where will you sleep?" Robyn asked intrigued.

"Me and Ché will share the other bed." Greta replied.

Kit smiled seeing an opening here, "and Ché, this time use a condom."

Everyone laughed at Kit's joke except Ché. Knowing he was in serious trouble Kit got up quickly from his seat and narrowly missed getting grabbed by Ché who'd gotten up to teach the young scallywag a lesson.

Kit managed to get quite a distance between himself and Ché but it was short lived. In seemingly no time Ché caught up with Kit and picked him up off of the ground. Thinking quickly about how to get Ché to let him go without throwing him somewhere Kit started to tickle Ché under his arms. It seemed that the giant was ticklish as he squirmed and started to laugh. As revenge for being tickled Ché set Kit down on his feet and tickled back. Kit was very ticklish and tried to call for help in between fits of laughter.

Before anyone could count to ten Ché was sprung upon by his previous attackers and a tickle fight ensued.


	8. More presents and strange songs

The tickle fight finished several minutes after it started and there was no injury save for bruised ribs and aching sides. Everyone that had participated sat back in their seats exhausted. It hadn't been the best thing to do on a full stomach for anyone and no one could see themselves moving for a long time.

Only Robbie, Stephanie, Greta, Bessie and the Mayor hadn't joined in with the tickle fight and watched with amusement as all of the participants groaned and moaned. Greta scolded Ché and told him it was his fault in the first place for getting up and running around. In his defence Ché said that Kit had started it by making the joke in the first place.

"Hang on a second. If you had have used a condom then there wouldn't be any joke. You'd have thought that after the first three kids you would've used some precautions. You messed it up sixteen times, what possesses a man to have sixteen kids anyway?" Kit interjected.

"It gets cold in the north," Ché replied nonchalantly.

At this Kit burst out laughing. The tone of Ché's voice and the look on his face had said it all. Kit wasn't alone in his laughter as everyone had started laughing at the same time as him.

When the laughter subsided and he'd gotten his breath back Kit thought it a good idea to give or rather show Robyn her present from him. There was an air of arrested anticipation when Kit led Robyn to the site of her new garden. All of the building work had been successfully completed that day before and everyone looked forward to seeing Robyn's reaction.

As for herself Robyn had only seen the garden the once and that had been at night. She'd not been able to see a great deal and hadn't really had a chance to study it. Kit had covered her eyes with his hands and when they arrived he uncovered them slowly.

Robyn looked around her with awe at the garden, "wow. This is great. I love it. Thanks everyone."

Everyone smiled and cheered.

"It's sort of from me but it's also something from everyone. All you need to do with it is plant it." Kit said putting an arm around Robyn.

"That's where my present comes in. As we speak a lorry is being loaded up with all of the flowers, plants, shrubs and trees listed in the plans for the garden you made." Robbie added.

Kit raised both eyebrows in surprise, he'd seen the inventory of everything Robyn had put down for planting and knew it must have cost the man an absolute fortune.

Robbie saw everyone's surprise and smiled, "there was no charge for any of it."

"How come?" was a question asked by a lot of people at the same time.

"Because he happens to know two people from Greentown who hold a lot of sway with the gardeners and the horticultural council. They also heard it was for a good cause and were very happy to offer their services." Doctor Palley said walking over to the group.

Everyone smiled and greeted Doctor Palley. When the greetings were all given Doctor Palley handed Kit and Robyn a package each. Both thanked him and tried to feel what was inside. Kit opened his first and smiled when he saw his present was a Kilt with a Sporran.

"It's one of the best patterns of tartan available and is pure wool. Seeing as you seem to enjoy wearing skirts I thought I'd get you one of those. Looks a little bit more normal if nothing else." Doctor Palley said pleased that Kit liked his gift.

Robyn's present was a lilac silk scarf with silver threads interwoven into it. It was a long scarf and was meant to be more decorative than functional. Doctor Palley explained that he knew Robyn liked that kind of thing and that it was a nice thing to get. He was pleased that Robyn liked her gift as well. It wasn't often that he bought presents for people and was glad that his efforts had been fruitful.

With all the presents handed out everyone returned to the table and made a space for Doctor Palley who'd come just in time for cake. The cake was served up and shared out. Only Greta and Sportacus didn't have any. Ché had no adverse affects to sugar and he had Greta's share while Robbie and Robyn argued over Sportacus' share. Their argument was a light hearted and amusing one which was resolved by them cutting Sportacus' share of the cake in half and each having a piece.

When Kit had finished his cake he stood up and asked for everyone's attention. "Who wants to hear my version of Old McDonald?" he asked smiling.

Everyone raised their hands, including Kit.

Clearing his throat Kit began:

"Old Mayor Meanswell has a town

E-I-E-I-O

And in that town he has a Bessie

E-I-E-I-O

With a ring, ring here

And a ring, ring there

Here a ring, there a ring

Always going ring, ring

Old Mayor Meanswell has a town

E-I-E-I-O

And in that town he has a Stingy

E-I-E-I-O

With a mine, mine here

And a mine, mine there

Here a mine, there a mine

Everything is mine, mine

Old Mayor Meanswell has a town

E-I-E-I-O

And in that town he has a Sportacus

E-I-E-I-O

With a flip, flip here

And a flip, flip there

Here a flip, there a flip

Everywhere a flip, flip

Old Mayor Meanswell has a town

E-I-E-I-O

And in that town he has a Ziggy

E-I-E-I-O

With a candy, candy here

And a candy, candy there

Here a candy, there a candy

Always eating candy, candy

Old Mayor Meanswell has a town

E-I-E-I-O

And in that town he has a Kit

E-I-E-I-O

With a ha, ha here

And a ha, ha there

Here a ha, there a ha

Everywhere a ha, ha

Old Mayor Meanswell has a town

E-I-E-I-O"

Everyone was laughing at the end of Kit's song. Not everyone had been included but they still liked it all the same. They all loved the verse about Stingy especially.


	9. Party games

With the song finished and everyone itching to have a go on the bull simulator Bessie proceeded to start clearing up. Robbie saw Bessie putting the plates in a black sack and was rather confused about it.

"Surely you wash your plates up?" Robbie asked with an eyebrow raised.

Kit rolled his eyes, "they're paper plates. You don't wash up paper plates you throw them away. You never were the brightest crayon in the box were you? Silly man."

Robbie smiled, "I know you are but what am I?"

"Ugly as sin."

Robbie looked at Kit blankly for a second before bursting out laughing. Anyone that had heard the small exchange between Kit and Robbie hadn't known how Robbie would react to Kit's statement. They were relieved when Robbie just laughed and they laughed too, it had been funny after all.

As promised Ché demonstrated the bull simulator first and managed to stay on for some thirty seconds which was pretty poor for someone who called themselves an expert. Instead of being allowed another go to prove his 'skill' at riding the bull Ché had to let Pixel have a go and wait in line.

Pixel was having the time of his life riding the bull. He matched every movement and adjusted to every turn the bull took and lasted two minutes. Trixie took her turn next; she lasted two minutes and ten seconds. Ziggy lasted one minute and ten seconds, he may have lasted longer if he wasn't eating a lollipop at the time. Stingy pushed in front of Kit and claimed the bull was 'his'. There was only a ten second interval between Stingy getting on the bull and being removed by Ché who placed him at the back of the line. Kit lasted a whopping four minutes thirty seconds on the bull which beat the top score by one minute and fifty seconds. Sportacus went next and shattered Kit's score by adding two minutes on it. Doctor Palley went next and surprised everyone by beating Sportacus' score by thirty seconds, his explanation was that his cousin had a ranch and he used to go there every year for the rodeo. The Mayor managed to talk Bessie round to having a go and he lasted as long as Pixel.

Everyone tried to get Greta and Robyn to take a turn but Greta resolutely refused and Robyn wouldn't go on the bull on her own. Ziggy offered to go with her and this was allowed by the others, apart from Stingy he had the lowest score so far. Stingy didn't like the idea of someone taking another turn before him so he jumped on the bull too which meant Robyn was sandwiched in between the two men.

Ché kept a very close eye on Kit who he suspected could be the jealous type where Robyn was concerned. Kit did show something of a jealous reaction when Stingy put his hand around Robyn's waist but it was nothing more than a twitch of his eyebrow. Ché was quite amused at this reaction and was also surprised, he'd expected more somehow. He knew Kit to have a temper on a short but well guarded fuse and had discovered that through his spats with Robyn when her temper would flare. The only thing that would rouse Robyn's temper was indignation. As far as Ché had seen there was no other trigger to it.

Ché's attention was taken from the comparative tempers of both lovers when he heard laughter. Shaking the residual vestiges of his daydream from his mind he looked up and could see that all three people on the bull had fallen off.

With the bull exhausted Kit challenged Sportacus to a go on the bungee wall. Sportacus accepted the challenge and both men connected themselves to a bungee on either end of the 'track'. The aim of the game was to touch the other person's wall before being pulled back by the bungee cords.

On the count of three both men ran as fast as they could and they only made it halfway before being dragged back. It had been agreed that everyone have three goes at trying to reach the opposite wall. Kit was having a whale of time and on his third go he couldn't run for laughing. Sportacus was also having a great time and he was having the same trouble as Kit. In a desperate last ditch attempt both Sportacus and Kit took off a dead run. Instead of trying to reach the opposite walls they grabbed hold of each other and tried to hang on as long as their bungee cords would allow. The bungee cords soon snapped back and both men were ripped away from each other. Neither of the men could breathe for laughing and tears of laughter rolled down their cheeks.

There was much more fun to be had on the bungee wall and everyone that had a try came off laughing as hard as Sportacus and Kit. It was a lot of fun and was funny to watch as well. No one made it to the opposite wall but all the fun was in trying. Kit had a second go once everyone had had theirs and amazingly he managed to grab the wall and hung on for dear life, everyone was laughing at his efforts and his laughter. It wasn't long before Kit's bungee snapped him back and he hit his own wall with a thud. He was given a round of applause but he was too exhausted to bow all he could do was drag himself along the ground while still laughing. Ché lifted the poor prone clown up and placed him on his shoulder.

When Kit managed to stop himself laughing, which was done with a great deal of difficulty, he pointed out the television and DVD player. Speech was a bit beyond him still but the questioning look on his face that he directed to Bessie asked for him.

"It's a little surprise for everyone." Bessie explained and then turned to Pixel, "Pixel, would you be so good as to turn this contraption on? The television I can do but I'm not sure of the other thing."

Pixel did as he was asked and the television lit up with images that made everyone smile with fond memories. They showed Robyn as a baby and as a child playing with her friends and family. There was an air of peace around Robbie as he watched clips of himself with Robyn. In some he was playing with her and in others which made everyone laugh they were snuggled up sleeping in his orange fuzzy chair. Everyone was left smiling at the end of the presentation and none more so than Robbie.

"How old was Robyn when you found her?" Ché asked Robbie.

Robbie thought for a second. "I'm not sure exactly. A doctor came and gave her a check up and he gave an estimate but I can't remember."

"I think she was about a week old when you found her. It's in her medical notes." Doctor Palley said.

Greta frowned, "A week old? I met Lily a few times and she was a nasty piece of work. I never thought her capable of that though. What kind of woman can abandon a new born baby?"

"The kind of woman who didn't even bother to find out the gender of her child." Bessie replied remembering the note that Lily had left with Robyn.

Ché snorted. He'd known Lily better than Greta and had known her longer. Only Lily would have stooped that low and it disgusted him. The woman had been heartless and in his eyes should have been strangled at birth.

Robbie had done well either way with Robyn. To have no idea about how to look after kids and yet manage to bring up a new born baby took some skill and a lot of determination. Sportacus had also shown a lot of determination when he took over care of Robyn after Robbie's death and Ché was proud of the both of them.

Choosing to remove the not so palatable atmosphere that was beginning to descend on the party Kit stood up and asked if anyone wanted to see a magic show. Everyone cheered up and immediately said yes. Before the show started Robbie went back into the house to get something.

Returning two minutes later to the party Robbie dragged a large trunk behind him. "This is a last minute and surprise present, Kit."

"What is it?"

"Open it."

Kit opened the trunk and inside there was a whole load of accessories for making magic tricks. It was an Aladdin's cave of ropes, cards, metal rings and all the other paraphernalia associated with magicians and tricks.

Looking at this present with bright eyes and a wide grin Kit looked like the proverbial kid at Christmas. He'd never ever been given any presents like this before and this was truly the best birthday he'd ever had.


	10. Planting the garden

Kit and Robbie's magic show was excellent. Kit had picked up everything Robbie had taught him well and had digested it all. Robbie's version of the Indian rope trick had had everyone crying with laughter as it was blatantly obvious that Kit was holding the rope. When Robbie had tried rather unsuccessfully to climb the rope he'd pulled Kit out of the tree and Kit had landed on him. Kit had gotten up quickly and pulled out one of his magic wands that had gotten bent in the fall. Greta had made a crass remark that it looked familiar which drew laughter from everyone. Even she could make jokes about Ché.

Instead of apologising for pulling Kit out of the tree Robbie told him to be more careful next time.

"Careful? Who pulled who out of the tree?" Kit asked with an eyebrow raised.

"You pulled yourself out, I had nothing to do with it."

Kit scoffed. Robbie had been laughing when he's said that it had been Kit's fault but Kit wasn't about to be undone.

Smiling wickedly at Robbie, Kit said, "I'm going to go dance on your grave and I hope you feel it."

When Kit went to do as he said he would everyone laughed. Ché made the comment that whenever people shuddered it was because people were dancing on their graves and he was quite interested to see if it was true.

Everyone watched Robbie closely for the next twenty minutes; they also wanted to see if the superstition was true. Robbie was the only proof they had and if he did shudder it would be weird but funny. After a further twenty minutes Kit came back and Robbie hadn't shuddered. Everyone was a little disappointed about this but their disappointment faded when Robbie did shudder briefly.

"Delayed reaction." Kit laughed.

With Kit back and it being dark enough now the Mayor advised everyone to stand back for the firework display.

Stephanie tugged Bessie's sleeve and whispered, "Do you think Uncle Milford doing the fireworks is a good idea? He might have an accident or blow something up."

"You're right, dear. How can we stop him?"

Sportacus had overheard Bessie's and Stephanie's conversation and went over to ask the Mayor if he could do the fireworks instead. To everyone's great relief the Mayor acquiesced and handed Sportacus the torch and matches.

The fireworks display was a great success and it concluded the party. Everyone filed home yawning; all of the cleaning up could be done in the morning. Doctor Palley hopped on his motorbike and rode back to the Outreach Clinic, he felt like sleeping in his office tonight.

Kit woke up the next morning after a long, deep and thoroughly refreshing sleep. He turned over to see if Robyn was awake and was surprised when he noticed she wasn't there. Opening his hand while stretching a small piece of paper landed on his chest, it looked crumpled as if he'd been holding it in his hand for some time. Picking the note up he opened it and read the words: 'Kit, I'm in the new garden planting. Come and join me when you're ready. There's lots to do! Love Robyn xxx'.

Jumping out of bed Kit showered, dressed and had a quick breakfast before going out to the garden to meet Robyn. He found her in amongst some shrubs and absolutely caked with mud. Smiling he watched her with interest; she was so engrossed in her work that she hadn't even noticed his arrival. Even though there wasn't much of her that wasn't covered in dirt she still looked beautiful. Her hair was tied up loosely with one of the bands that she'd gotten for her last birthday but even so it was still muddy. She wore an old beaten up pair of dungarees and some old trainers which definitely looked like they had seen better days.

Deciding to alert Robyn to his presence before he got a little too engrossed in watching her Kit handed her a shovel when she seemed to be looking for it.

"That is the girl I'm going to marry under all that isn't it?" Kit asked trying to see under the mud.

Robyn smiled wryly, "I should hope it is. I'm glad to see you haven't tried to skip town this year."

"You're never going to let that drop are you?"

"I will eventually. Like I'll drop the thing about you being an unfeeling, uncaring, thoughtless boar."

Kit couldn't help but chuckle, "when have I ever been unfeeling, uncaring and thoughtless since then?"

"This morning. When I tried to get you to wake up you just moaned and rolled over. You promised to help yesterday night."

"Ok, ok. I put my hands up, I'm guilty as charged. I'm here now though, Miss Muddy. What do you want me to do?"

Robyn laughed, "Go home and get into some old clothes first. You can't help me in those."

Kit did as he was told and returned five minutes later in a similar outfit to Robyn's. Like Robyn, Kit rarely tied his hair back but he thought it would be a good idea if he did. He looked handsome enough without it tied back as it was always kept well groomed but when it was tied back it added something to his features.

When he'd arrived back at the garden Kit noticed that nearly half of the planting was done already. He'd not noticed before as he'd been too busy looking at Robyn. All of the bedding plants were planted in their beds and some of the smaller shrubs and trees were planted too. The climbing plants had been placed against the three archways which were placed at the three entrances to the garden and the arbour had been planted around too. The water plants had been added to the pond as well.

Looking at Robyn who was watching him intently Kit asked, "what time did you get up this morning exactly?"

"Three." Robyn replied simply. Seeing Kit's surprised expression she continued, "I know. There was a lot to get done and the longer the plants were in the lorry or in their pots the less healthy they'd be. I also had to check if I could still come in here after…"

Kit nodded. If it hadn't have been for Pixel's quick thinking he could have lost her that night. The only thing that had gone through his mind when Robyn had stopped breathing was that no matter what he had to try to keep her alive. Without her life for him wasn't worth living. She had saved his life when she'd taken him back after he'd left her and before that when she'd taken him in whether he was a total stranger or not. He had a lot to be thankful for.

As if reading Kit's thoughts Robyn dropped her shovel and walking over to Kit she hugged him. She couldn't imagine what life would have been like if he hadn't have come back that day. It had been a year since they'd confessed their love for each other and if it hadn't have been for Robbie they never would have had that chance. It had been a tumultuous year for everyone but everyone had made it through.

No matter what the hardship and the past had thrown at them they'd moved on. Robyn had moved on from all of her sufferings of the past year and was determined to have a good year.

Cain's warning of danger hadn't left her mind for a moment but she was ready for it. Whenever it came and in whatever form she was ready to tackle it head on. No matter what damage was done to her she would move on. She was strong.


End file.
